About a month ago I slid a road with my 91' 4Runner. It was my baby. V6, 4WD 5pd and all the little bells and whistles. What I always wanted...sadly... I slid off I hit a tree and rolled. The frame was bent and windows were smashed and roof was all dented in . Only had liability Loved that car...to my point. IN the near future, I would like to purchase another one but I've always wanted the 80's style where you can unbolt the back portion. And i would like another one with the 3.0. So with that in mind...what are the differeneces (aside from having a solid front axle) would an 88-89 4Runner from the one I had like; Suspension lifts and performance. Any major advantages and disadvantages from the two. I don't plan on rock climbing but some fun trailing would be awesome. I want to know cuz I never got around to moding my '91 sadly. Any help would be great. Thanks.

 

Hi and sorry to hear about your rig! I don’t drive a 4runner but I do run an 88 3.0 pickup. The 1985 4 runner was the last year of the solid axle but didn’t have the 3.0. If you could find an 85 in good shape I say buy it, the 4 cyl isn’t that far off from the 3.0 and run for ever. In the 1988-89 years you could find a 3.0 powered truck that would be basically the same mechanically as your 91 as they really only changed cosmetically. Good luck in your search though!

 

My 89 4runner has the 3.0 and 200k. Removable top, roll bar, 4x4, what more could you ask for. It's nice, but theres not a lot I can do to the motor. Theres a bunch of mods for the 4cyl though. 4cyl are slow, until you mod em. Theres almost no differences between any of the 86-89 4runners, except gearing i think. They are also the same as the truck (from the back of the door to the front, and most of the back too). I'm pretty sure the 88 and 89 are exactly the same. Your 91 4runner would make a good parts truck. I think the suspension and gearing might be a litle different, but I think most of it would be interchangeable(not sure). All of the engine parts though would be fully interchangeable. Good luck with gettin a new 4runner.